“There are a lot of problems with this statute,” U.S.
District Judge Sharon Blackburn in Birmingham, Alabama, said
yesterday in a hearing on three lawsuits. “My job is to decide
if this is constitutional.”

The federal government and groups including the American
Civil Liberties Union and Christian clergy sought at yesterday’s
hearing to delay enforcement of the law, set to take effect
Sept. 1. Blackburn ended the hearing without ruling.

“I’m not issuing any ruling yesterday even though I’ve
indicated my feelings,” Blackburn said. Earlier, she questioned
whether the clergy group had standing to bring the complaint and
said she was likely to rule against the group’s claims.

The law will require police officers to verify the
immigration status of anyone they stop and suspect may be in the
U.S. illegally. Businesses will have to use the federal E-Verify
database to determine whether job applicants are eligible to
work. It will also be a crime to knowingly rent housing to
illegal immigrants.

The U.S. Justice Department and the ACLU argue that federal
law governs the treatment of undocumented immigrants. Roman
Catholic, Episcopal and Methodist clergy say the statute makes
it illegal for them to fulfill their mission to feed, clothe and
give communion to undocumented aliens.

‘Respect the Law’

“The U.S. is advocating a dramatic and drastic expansion
of power” by claiming the state doesn’t have any jurisdiction
with regard to illegal immigration, said Alabama Deputy Attorney
General John Neiman.

Most provisions of the state’s law apply to Alabama
citizens and not undocumented immigrants, Neiman said. The state
has a right to police its own citizens and “respect the law,”
he said.

Under the law, an employer who hired unauthorized
immigrants and took deductions from their wages would be liable
for civil fraud under the new statute, Neiman said.

Alabama is the fifth U.S. state to enact such legislation.
The three lawsuits are consolidated before Blackburn.

Blackburn told Augusta Dowd, the lawyer for the clergy
group, that the law didn’t mention religious activities as to
illegal immigrants and didn’t restrict church activities.

“I am not going to keep disagreeing with you,” she told
Dowd.

The cases are Hispanic Interest Coalition of Alabama v.
Bentley, 5:11-cv-2484, Parsley v. Bentley, 5:11-cv-2736, and
U.S. v. Bentley, 5:11-cv-2746, U.S. District Court, Northern
District of Alabama (Birmingham).

To contact the reporter on this story:
Laurence Viele Davidson in Birmingham, Alabama,
at lviele@bloomberg.net.